Genetic characterization of an insect-specific flavivirus isolated from Culex theileri mosquitoes collected in southern Portugal.

• Authors: Cook S, de Almeida AP, de Matos AP, Esteves A, Lopes A, Parreira R, Piedade J
• Journal: Virus Research
• Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=Genetic+characterization+of+an+insect-specific+flavivirus+isolated+from+Culex+theileri+mosquitoes+collected+in+southern+Portugal

We describe the full genetic characterization of an insect-specific flavivirus (ISF) from Culex theileri (Theobald) mosquitoes collected in Portugal. This represents the first isolation and full characterization of an ISF from Portuguese mosquitoes. The virus, designated CTFV, for Culex theileri flavivirus, was isolated in the C6/36 Stegomyia albopicta (=Aedes albopictus) cell line, and failed to replicate in vertebrate (Vero) cells in common with other ISFs.
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